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Related Concept Videos

Chirality in Nature02:30

Chirality in Nature

Chirality is the most intriguing yet essential facet of nature, governing life’s biochemical processes and precision. It can be observed from a snail shell pattern in a macroscopic world to an amino acid, the minutest building block of life. Most of the snails around the world have right-coiled shells because of the intrinsic chirality in their genes. All the amino acids present in the human body exist in an enantiomerically pure state, except for glycine - the sole achiral amino acid. The...
Chirality02:25

Chirality

Chirality is a term that describes the lack of mirror symmetry in an object. In other words, chiral objects cannot be superposed on their mirror images. For example, our feet are chiral, as the mirror image of the left foot, the right foot, cannot be superposed on the left foot.
Chiral objects exhibit a sense of handedness when they interact with another chiral object. For example, our left foot can only fit in the left shoe and not in the right shoe. Achiral objects — objects that have...
Prochirality02:05

Prochirality

The concept of prochirality leads to the nomenclature of the individual faces of a molecule and plays a crucial role in the enantioselective reaction. It is a concept where two or more achiral molecules react to produce chiral products. A typical process is the reaction of an achiral ketone to generate a chiral alcohol. Here, the achiral reactant reacts with an achiral reducing agent, sodium borohydride, to generate an equimolar mixture of the chiral enantiomers of the product. For example, an...
Molecules with Multiple Chiral Centers02:25

Molecules with Multiple Chiral Centers

Molecules that possess multiple chiral centers can afford a large number of stereoisomers. For instance, while some molecules like 2-butanol have one chiral center, defined as a tetrahedral carbon atom with four different substituents attached, several molecules like butane-2,3-diol have multiple chiral centers. A simple formula to predict the number of stereoisomers possible for a molecule with n chiral centers is 2n. However, there can be a lower number where some of the stereoisomers are...
Fischer Projections02:18

Fischer Projections

Learning to draw Fischer projections of molecules and understanding their relevance plays a crucial role in the visual depiction of organic molecules. A Fischer projection is a two-dimensional projection on a planar surface to simplify the three-dimensional wedge–dash representation of molecules. This is especially helpful in the case of molecules with multiple chiral centers that can be difficult to draw. Here, all the bonds of interest are represented as horizontal or vertical lines. While...
Stereoisomerism of Cyclic Compounds02:33

Stereoisomerism of Cyclic Compounds

In this lesson, we delve into the role of ring conformation and its stability, which determines the spatial arrangement and, consequently, the molecular symmetry and stereoisomerism of cyclic compounds. 1,2-Dimethylcyclohexane is used as a case study to evaluate the possible number of stereoisomers. Here, given the multiple (n = 2) chiral centers, there are 2n = 4 possible configurations that lack a plane of symmetry, as the ring skeleton exists in a non-planar chair conformation. In addition,...

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Updated: May 30, 2026

A Micropatterning Assay for Measuring Cell Chirality
08:07

A Micropatterning Assay for Measuring Cell Chirality

Published on: March 11, 2022

Two-dimensional chirality: intelligent design.

Leila M Foroughi, Adam J Matzger

    Nature Chemistry
    |August 24, 2011
    PubMed
    Summary
    This summary is machine-generated.

    Achiral molecules were assembled into a homochiral porous network, enabling new separation techniques. This breakthrough sheds light on how homochirality, vital for life, can emerge from non-chiral or racemic origins.

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    Coulomb Explosion Imaging as a Tool to Distinguish Between Stereoisomers
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    Assembly of Gold Nanorods into Chiral Plasmonic Metamolecules Using DNA Origami Templates

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    Last Updated: May 30, 2026

    A Micropatterning Assay for Measuring Cell Chirality
    08:07

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    Published on: March 11, 2022

    Coulomb Explosion Imaging as a Tool to Distinguish Between Stereoisomers
    08:51

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    Published on: August 18, 2017

    Assembly of Gold Nanorods into Chiral Plasmonic Metamolecules Using DNA Origami Templates
    09:17

    Assembly of Gold Nanorods into Chiral Plasmonic Metamolecules Using DNA Origami Templates

    Published on: March 5, 2019

    Area of Science:

    • Materials Science
    • Supramolecular Chemistry
    • Chemical Engineering

    Background:

    • Achiral molecules, lacking non-superimposable mirror images, typically form non-chiral or racemic structures.
    • Homochirality, the prevalence of a single enantiomer, is fundamental to biological systems, including amino acids and sugars.
    • Controlling molecular assembly at interfaces is crucial for designing advanced functional materials.

    Discussion:

    • This study demonstrates the successful self-assembly of achiral molecular building blocks into a homochiral porous crystalline material.
    • The process occurs at a solid–liquid interface, offering a controllable environment for network formation.
    • The resulting porous network exhibits homochiral characteristics, meaning it possesses a specific handedness at the molecular level.

    Key Insights:

    • Achiral precursors can be directed to form homochiral supramolecular architectures.
    • Solid–liquid interfaces provide a unique platform for templating homochiral network formation.
    • This work offers a potential route to generate enantiopure materials from simple, achiral starting points.

    Outlook:

    • The development of homochiral porous materials has significant implications for enantioselective separations and chiral catalysis.
    • Understanding this assembly mechanism could provide insights into the prebiotic origins of homochirality in biological systems.
    • Further research can explore tuning pore size and functionality for specific separation or catalytic applications.